Assessment Rationale:

Meta stridulans is restricted to the laurisilva forest on Madeira Island, Portugal. This species has a restricted geographic range with an extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of ca 800 km². However, Meta stridulans is assessed as Least Concern (LC), since the habitat of the species is not experiencing any decline in area or quality and the population is therefore assumed to be stable. Additionally the species' range is inside a protected area and there are no known threats to it. A monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.

Geographic Range:

Meta stridulans is known throughout the laurisilva forest that occupies about 20% of the island of Madeira (Portugal), mainly on its steep and humid northern slopes. Multiple collection sites are recorded for the species, mostly recent (Wunderlich 1987, Crespo et al. 2014). It was possible to perform species distribution modelling to predict its potential range with confidence limits (Cardoso et al. 2017).

Population:

No population size estimates exist, but the preferred habitat of the species is not experiencing any decline in area and the population is assumed to be stable.

Habitat and Ecology

Meta stridulans is restricted to the humid laurisilva forest on the northern slopes of Madeira Island. This species is an orb-web builder, possibly on the tree branches, feeding mainly on small-medium sized insects.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known threats to the species.

Conservation Actions

No specific conservation measures are in place for the species, but most of the species range is inside the Madeira Natural Park. Monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.